Battlefleet Commander
by soran51
Summary: I'm just a regular guy. A regular guy out of time now I'm in command of thousand of lives. I'm only here because of a few books I had in my possession. Now billions of lives are hanging on my decisions. I'm not supposed to be here but I'm going to do the best I can and save as many lives as I can.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Warhammer 40k it belongs to Games Workshop. Only Original characters belong to me.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Ork Hunting**

 _In route to Bilani Agriworld in the Malfian Sub-Sector_

* * *

"Captain, the Ork Freebooters are turning back around. The convoy has reached the edge of the gravity well and has warped out."

I sighed. The fact that I could hear a statement like that and not bat an eye is proof at how messed up my life has become. A year ago I'd never heard of an Ork outside of a fantasy novel. Hell a year ago I had never even dreamed of being a Captain of a space ship let alone one that houses almost sixty-five thousand people.

"Good. Give me a status report on the rest of the fleet." I ordered.

"Captain, The Might of the Emperor and the remaining Firestorm frigates are breaking formation. They're turning around and are heading for the edge of the start's gravity well." My Augur Array Chief shouted.

"What!?" I growled. "Get me Admiral Hook on the Vox now!"

I sat in my captain's chair and waited patiently for my crew to do as I ordered. I wasn't long before the screen in front of me snapped to life. The image of a large man came into view. He wasn't large in the way I'd come to expect in this cruel universe. He was a fat man, beet faced and balding. The 'Lord' Admiral Hook had a thick beard that did little to hide how pudgy his cheeks were.

"Admiral would you mind telling me what in the Emperor's name is going on. We received no order to withdraw from the area."

"That's because I never gave your ship orders to withdraw, Captain. Your ship was damaged in the opening of the engagement correct?" He asked.

"Yes sir. My magos' tell me that our warp generator is damaged but easily repairable. We should be fit for warp travel in a few hours." I responded.

"Exactly. In few hours we could have a dozen Ork ships in the area. I will not risk my fleet for one ship Captain. I am ordering you to form a rear guard and protect the fleet as we make way for edge of the gravity well where-by we will return to Port Wrath." He grinned. I wanted to reach through the cogitator screen and punch the Lord Admiral in the face.

The Admiral's fleet consisted of two Dauntless Light cruisers, and a pair of Firestorm frigates. Properly utilized the Admiral's fleet composition could take on an Ork fleet nearly twice the size of what we faced here. But with him taking the Firestorms with him my ship will have very little chance against the Ork Freebooters.

Given the current situation the Admiral's orders were little more than a death sentence. Unfortunately given the Admiral's rank and Disposition with-in the Sector defense fleet. There was nothing I could do.

"Understood Admiral." I growled. "I'll see you back at Port Wrath."

"If the Emperor wills, Captain." The fat Admiral smirked.

With a snap the screen shut off and the Admiral disconnected from the Vox channel.

"Danm it!" Surprisingly the curse didn't come from me. I turned my head and looked at my Bridge Commissar and raised an eyebrow. Commissar Larza, despite her small stature, was force of nature when angered. Luckily I have never given her reason to turn that anger against me, mostly because I'd never survive if I did. Given the look she had in her eye's I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow managed to reach into blank screen strangle the good Lord Admiral in his chair.

"If we had even one Firestorm frigate with us we could take on those danmable Orks, but the Lord Admiral flees like a coward, and leaves us to die!" She growled.

I smirked, "I wouldn't count us out of this fight just yet Commissar. I don't know about you but I don't intend to let sixty-five thousands of the Emperor's finest navy men die without a fight. I meant what I said. We will see the Lord Admiral again." I gave her a smile "And when we do you can let your displeasure known to him in person." I watched as the grin on Commissar Larza's face turn absolutely blood thirsty. May the Emperor have mercy on the Lord Admiral's soul, because Larza certainly wouldn't.

"Do you have a plan, Captain?" she asked.

"That depends." I looked over to my Master Gunner, "Gunz, how stand the weapons?"

"The macro cannons on the port side are good to go, but our starboard flank got hit bad Captain." His name was Leon and at sixty years old he was an old hand at space combat.

"What about the forward prow lance? If we are to have any hope of winning this fight we're going to need that weapon system. I'd prefer to have both banks of macro cannons but we'll make do." I said.

"The forward lance is fully operational." He said.

"Good. Augur Sensor's find me a dust cloud to hide in the largest you can find. Helmsman, make your heading to the dust cloud best possible speed but keep the emergency thrusters in reserve. We're going to need them."

"Aye Captain!" I heard the engines turn on and watched as the stars started spinning lazily outside the massive gothic windows that make up my bridge.

I turned back to the master gunner, "I want an alternating load on our macro cannon shells. I want the first set of rounds to be bursting fragmentation rounds followed by armor piercing. Have the gun crews follow that pattern for the entire engagement, and start charging the prow lance. I want it ready to fire on my order, and get your best crew on the lance. We're going to have to make every shot count on the lance."

The Master Gunner snapped off a salute and nodded, "With your permission I'd like to head to the forward lance myself."

I nodded, "Slave your cogitator to my station, Gunz." I said, using my nickname for old crewman. "I'll give your crews their orders from here. Just make sure they understand High fragmentation then armor piercing."

"It will be done Captain." He said.

I tuned to the Master at Arms, "I want every Guardsmen on this ship armed and stationed at every major system on this ship. I want special consideration for the Warp generator. We can't afford to take any more damage there. I also want you to reinforce the void shield generator. If we lose the generator. . . Well I don't think I need to tell you what will happen."

"Yes my Lord." The master at Arms turned to station and started barking orders into his private Vox channel.

Finally I turned back to Commissar Larza, "Commissar I need you to get your personal squad up here to the bridge and have them guard the Bridge."

She didn't say anything, she gave me a brief salute and took off.

I finally sat back down in my chair. When I first came on board and took Command I hatted this chair. Practically a throne made of solid gold. With no cushions. The damn thing is bloody uncomfortable, but I soon realized that as Captain it was my responsibility to set an example for the crew, so I dredged up every ounce of will power I had and did my best to relax.

"Helmsman, what's our ETA to the dust cloud?" I asked calmly despite the fact that my nerves were on fire.

"Twenty minutes Captain."

I nodded in satisfaction, "And the Orks? Are the pursuing us?"

"Yes Captain. They should enter the dust cloud twelve minutes behind us." The crewman answered.

"And if they use their emergency boosters?" I asked.

"Tactical Cogitators predict that they'll enter the dust cloud four minutes after us if they use their boosters."

"Good. Helmsmen as soon as you enter the dust cloud I want the ship to go silent. Then raise the bow angle to forty five degrees and get us as high as you can in the cloud without letting the Orks know where we are."

"Aye Captain."

The minuets ticked by and I did my best to keep my cool. I pulled up the small cogitator screen on the arm rest of my chair and pulled up a small playlist. When I first came to this millennium one of the few things I had on me was my cell phone. It was loaded with personal information. Luckily I was able to pull the information off of it and download it to my personal data slate. Soon Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings was piped in through speakers on the bridge. "Alert me when we reach the dust cloud or if anything changes in the next few minutes." My hope was that if my crew saw me as relaxed and confidant then they would be too.

"Captain."

I opened my eyes looked at my communications officer. "Yes, Lieutenant."

"The Orks are hailing us." The young officer said.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Commissar Larza. At her nod I turned back to the main screen. "By all means, let's see what the green skins have to say before we blow them to emperor knows where." My bridge crew chucked and I couldn't help but smile. Despite our situation at least moral was high.

"You punnie human! You let ma loot get away! I'm gonna crump ya good, ya git!" The Ork Captain was a typical specimen of his species. Besides the aforementioned green skin, he had large yellow teeth, red eyes, and an eyepatch of all things. The most distinguished feature though was a massive tricorn hat upon his head.

"That," I began slowly, "is the ugliest hat I've ever seen. Did you make it yourself?"

"WHAAAA!?" The Ork yelled.

"I mean that thing looks like something you'd pick up out of garbage. Wouldn't you say Larza?"

"The garbage is too good for that thing. It deserves to be blasted into star." The Commissar said with a frown.

A chorus of agreement was heard from my bridge crew, and I couldn't help but smile. Some call me an unconventional Captain, others call me down right heretical. Commissar Larza was a part of the later until she got to know me, now she's a part of the former.

"YA LOWSY GIT! YA INSULT MA HAT NOW I'm REALLY GONNA CRUMP YA!" He yelled so loud that a fleck of spit landed on the lens of the camera in front of him.

"You?" I sneered. "You're week and small. You couldn't crump a Gretchin if your life depended on it. I have nothing to say to such a small and week Ork." I made a sweeping motion with my hand the the Ork was cut off mid rant.

"Well that was fun." I said with a grin. A series of chuckles sounded across the bridge from my crew.

"Captain the Orks have lit off their emergency boosters. They're closing distance." My augur sensor chief called out.

"Good." I said leaning back. "An angry Ork is a stupid Ork. This should be easier than I though." I said. I turned off my music and checked the status off my ships systems. "Gunz, is the prow lance ready?" I asked.

"Yes Captain. As soon as you declare a target we'll bring down the wrath of the Emperor on them." He called.

"Good. When I give the order I want you to target the aft section of the Ork ship. If you can bring down their void shields our macro cannons will have a better chance of penetrating. My plan hinges on your accuracy Gunz."

"I will not fail you Captain." The old crewman vowed.

"There's a case of ale in it for you and your crew if you don't Gunz!" I challenged. The roars of the crew were deafening over the Vox.

"Captain, we're entering the dust cloud. I am raising the bow angle forty-five degrees. We are running silent." My helmsmen said.

"Good." I gave a blood thirsty grin. "Let's hunt some Ork."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2 is finally up. Sorry it took so long.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Art of War**

* * *

I watched as the dust cloud swirled around the screen in front of me. I had tried to get the windows replaced with armor but the tech priests at Port Wrath had shut me down.

"Captain the Orcs are entering the dust cloud."

"All stop." I ordered feeling the vibrations in the deck plates change as the ship struggled to arrest its forward momentum.

I looked at my sensor chief. "Do you still have the orcs on sensor's?"

The young woman nodded, "Yes Captain. We're not getting as good a return, but we still have their heat bloom."

"Calculate their trajectory and velocity. I want to know when they'll pass underneath us." I order.

"Aye Captain."

I pull up the vox to my forward lance battery. "Gunz we're getting ready to make our attack run. Tie your targeting cogitator into the sensors. When I give the word fire on the rear most Ork ship."

 _"Aye Captain."_

"Helsmen, calculate a flight path that will bring us directly behind the rear most ork ship I want us to be no more than three thousand meters distant but more than twenty-five hundred we're going to need the room to maneuver. As soon as the lance brings down the enemy void shields execute a high energy turn ninety degrees starboard."

"Aye Captain!"

With my orders given I leaned back into my chair and watched the dust swirl around my ship. Soon enough I could pick out the glow of the engines of the two massive ships I was slowly sneaking up on. If I was to have any chance, I'd have to find a way to break up the Ork formation. Either by destroying one of the ships in my opening salvo, which is unlikely, or take out the engines of one of the ships and lead the other one on a merry chase through the system, which is still unlikely but much more feasible. Ork ships have very little rear armor. They tend to point their ships directly at their target and come in guns blazing, preferring to ram their opponents and break their ships across their heavily armored bows.

"We are in position Captain. We are holding station 2800 meters directly behind the trailing Ork ship."

I sighed, "Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance." I quoted.

That damned book and I have a love hate relationship. Sun Tzu's The Art of War is the sole reason I'm currently sitting in a Captain's chair having to fight the monsters of the universe. Granted it's also the reason I'm not sitting in a lab somewhere, or and interrogation chamber, or dead in a coffin, so there is that, but I still hate that book. Mostly because the simplest of its concepts seem beyond even the most intelligent Commanders of this time.

"Gunz. Bring the rain." I ordered.

With a crack, a bolt of purple energy spewed from the bow of my ship and splashed against the shields of the enemy Freebooter ship. The pitch of the ship's vibrations changed again as the generators when to full power. There was no point in hiding now.

"Direct hit Captain!"

"Follow the enemy ship! Keep us pointed at their rear." I ordered.

Both Ork ships fired off their engines attempting to turn around and bring their weapons to bear. My Dauntless was much lighter and easily kept pace however. Suddenly another bolt of purple spewed forth from my ship and struck true a second time.

"Gunz must have released the safeties on the forward battery." The tech priest to my right said.

I looked at the atrocity of human flesh and metal Mechadendrite's that stood next to my chair, "Will he be alright?" I asked.

"The machine spirit of the forward battery is temperamental at the best of times. I can only imagine that the promise striking the enemy first have calmed it. That and the Master Gunner has a unique connection with all the Machine Spirits of his weapons, he is after all the one who directs their destructive power against the enemies of man." The red robed tech priest said.

It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either. I hoped my friend made it through this battle. The last thing I needed was to train another Master Gunner.

A third bolt smashed into the enemy's void shields. The massive wave of gravitons that made up the void shields cracked and lost cohesion. Even from this distance I could almost hear the sound of breaking glass that must have reverberated through the Ork ship. All spacers new that sound well. It was the sound that precluded death.

"Execute high energy turn!" I ordered. I felt a subtle shift in my inner ear as _The Indominable_ swung around and brought the Port side battery to bear.

I clicked the vox that connected to the gun crews on that side of the ship, "Fire and reload!"

A Dauntless Light cruiser weighs in at 22 megatonnes, that's 22 _million_ tones. It takes a tremendous amount of force to move my ship. The recoil from a full broadside of macro cannon shells being hurled through space is enough to push my ship almost a full meter to the starboard side, despite the fact that we have dampeners to reduce that effect to near zero. I watch as the shells strike the thin armor plating on the rear of the freebooter ship. Shredding though the housing of the massive engines. I watch as the engines sputter but hold.

"Fire at will!" I order. Rounds start pouring out of my ship as fast as the gun crews can load them. I watch as the second round of armor piercing rounds slam into the Ork ship and detonate deep within the belly of Freebooter ship. I see and explosion deep within the Ork ship and a massive cascade failure starts. I can only assume that we must have hit the promethium storage tanks because next thing I know is the entire back half of the ship in on fire and spewing atmosphere.

"Captain I'm reading a warp signature. It looks like the damaged Ork ship is warping out!" I grinned. I didn't destroy the enemy ship so I wouldn't be able to claim it's bounty when I returned to Port Wrath, but it did mean I had one less ship to worry about.

A cheer erupts on the bridge.

"Helmsmen, full burn get us some distance from the other ship!"

The ship speared though dust cloud and into open space.

"Sensor's find me and asteroid belt we need cover!" I shout.

"Captain there's a small group of asteroids 400 kilometers distant." The sensor chief shouts.

"Helmsman, best speed. Put those rocks between us and the remaining Ork ship."

"Aye Captain!"

"Ork's are firing!"

My desire to remove one of the Ork ships had allowed its brother get behind me. Most Ork Gun Kaptins couldn't aim worth a danm, but then again, they really didn't need to worry. The shear amount of enemy fire coming towards me meant that _The Indominable_ would be hit regardless of how crossed eyed the Ork commanders were.

I felt the ship shudder as the void shields absorbed round after round of enemy fire. My crew were whispering prayers to the Emperor of Man. Asking for his protection. I would have joined them had I actually believed that such a thing would have helped. Unlike most of my crew I didn't believe that a mere mortal man was capable of bestowing the power of miracle.

"You don't pray?" Commissar Larza asked.

"No." I said simply. "I don't need to because I believe that whether the Emperor intervenes or not, we will be victorious. I have the best damned ship in the galaxy with the best damned crew. We don't need the Emperor to protect us because we will be victorious!"

A cheer erupted from my bridge at my impromptu speech. Even Larza showed a rare smile.

"Helmsman time to the asteroid field?"

"Sixty seconds Captain!"

I sat back and crossed my fingers, hoping against the odds that we'd make it. My hopes were dashed when a jolt ran through the ship. Electricity arced across the bridge and one of the servitors exploded and sent shrapnel across the bridge. I felt a sting as one of the pieces sliced me across my check. A few of the bridge crewmen were caught in the blast and died instantly. I felt a splash of blood hit the side of my face.

"Report!" I barked out.

"Sir the Orks have fired some kind of directed energy weapon. Our void shields are down and there are fires throughout the ship." I paled. A fire onboard a starship was an easy way to an early grave.

"What about the critical system's?" I asked.

"They are unaffected."

"Give the crew thirty seconds to evacuate the areas that are on fire then seal off those sections and vent their atmosphere. Helmsmen as soon as were behind the asteroid belt. Dive the ship and loop back around towards the Ork ship." I ordered.

"How long until the void shields are recharged?" I asked.

"Three minutes' captain."

I cursed. In three minutes my ship could be so full of holes we'd resemble swiss cheese. I needed to find a way to get behind the pursuing Ork ship without exposing myself to the crazy number of guns on the prow of their ship. Suddenly I had an insane idea. One that might actually work.

I turned on my Vox, "Gunz I need your aim. We're about to charge the Ork ship. I need it's shields down or we're all dead men!"

"Aye aye Captain." Was Leon's simple reply.

"What's the status on the emergency boosters?" I asked my magos.

"They are at 30% and recharging. They will fire but we will not have much time to maneuver." The tech priest answered.

"Good. When I give the word, vent all the promethium from the emergency boosters but don't ignite them."

The Magos reared back in shock. "Sir, venting the promethium from the boosters will require an entire system restart. It will take several hours to placate the machine spirits."

I nodded. "I know Magos. I have a plan."

The tech priest was hesitant but finally nodded. "Yes sir."

I looked forward just as my helmsman started diving under the asteroid belt. "Helmsmen, I want you to point us directly at the Ork ship as we come back around. When I give the order, activate the emergency boosters. Then I need you to listen very closely to my orders."

The young crewman nodded at his station. I could see the anxiety in his shoulders as he stood at the front of the bridge. I could feel the sweat pouring down my back as my heart raced. The idea I had come up with was ridiculous, but with a little luck it just might work.

We came out from under the belt and I could see the Ork ship off in the distance. I turned towards my Vox Officer. "Hail the Ork ship."

Every eye on the bridge turned towards me. "Trust me." Was all I said. I didn't miss the look the bridge officer gave Commissar Larza before following my order.

With a snap the Cogitator screen in front of me lit up with the same Ork Kaptin from before. "HA!" I shouted at the screen. "You missed! Try getting a little closer you lousy git! Then you might actually hit something!" I pressed a button on my chair and the screen turned off just as the Ork began to yell at me.

"Fire the emergency boosters." A green cloud enveloped my ship as the un burnt promethium spewed from the exhaust vents around my ship.

"Sir the Ork ship is turning the face us."

"Fire the forward lance." I ordered. Another bolt of purple slammed into the forward shields of the Ork ship, then another, and finally with a third bolt I saw the static discharge across the Ork ship that signified the collapse of the Ork void shields.

"Sir the Orks are firing their emergency boosters!"

"Steady as she goes helm."

The crew was surprised when the Ork ship didn't fire it's forward weapons. I was not. I had hoped that I could goad the Ork Kaptin into closing the distance.

"Helm role the ship about the center axis and drop the bow five degrees!" I shouted.

My ship slowly spun as the Ork ship got bigger and bigger in the window.

"All hands brace for impact!" I shouted.

The Ork ship hit us with jarring force. Enough to rattle my teeth. I could hear my ship groan in protest as the Ork armor cut a deep groove into the starboard side of my ship. Then we were past the Ork ship.

"Sensors plot the trajectory of the Ork ship." I called.

"Aye sir. Tactical Cogitators predict. . . sir they'll hit the promethium cloud in twenty seconds." I grinned at the shocked tone my officer spoke with. My crew and I had been on a few missions together in the past few months, but today was the first time I had been really tested in direct combat. It seems that more than a few were surprised at my tactics.

"Magos, tell me. What do you think will happen when the Ork's engines hit the promethium clowd?" I asked.

The Magos was silent for a few seconds. I could hear a whirling sound as the tech priest processed my request. "I predict with there is a 98% chance of the promethium spontaneously igniting."

Every man and woman in the Imperial navy knew how dangerous promethium was. Unless properly controlled, the liquid fuel could burn hot enough to melt through starship armor and decks. Having a fuel leak onboard was almost as big a death sentence as having your Gellar field fail mid warp jump, less messy maybe, but still serious business. To make matters worse it the stuff was danm unstable, the smallest spark could set it off, and currently the Orks were heading straight for it with their engines running full out.

I gave my crew a savage grin as they looked at me in awe. "Bring the portside battery to bear." I said softly.

"AYE AYE!"


End file.
